In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Next Sunday in The Hague, the United Nations will gather top diplomats from Afghanistan, the United States, and more than 80 other countries to discuss development and stability in Afghanistan. The Obama administration is expected to unveil details of its new Afghanistan strategy at this conference. It has been over seven years since the international community came together in Germany to establish the Bonn Agreement on Dec. 5, 2001. In Bonn in 2001, the intent was to provide a roadmap for Afghanistan’s transition to a stable democracy. Next week in The Hague, the focus will be on how to avoid the country again being overrun by the Taliban and becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

This spring and summer, Afghanistan is preparing for its second presidential election on August 20, while 17,000 more American troops – and a rumored surge of diplomats and aid workers – will begin arriving in the country. The Obama administration’s new strategy is reportedly focused on creating stability, but efficient and democratic governance in the long-term will remain one of the priorities.

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The United Nations police (UNPOL) will soon relinquish its lead in patrolling Timor-Leste to the national police force, Policia National Timor-Leste (PNTL). Last month, the Government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) officially decided that PNTL would resume policing responsibilities and called for a “gradual and phased approach – district-by-district and unit-by-unit in accordance with mutually-agreed and clearly-defined criteria.”

Mr. Xanana Gusmao, Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, added that the first phase of the handover would be held in the districts of Alieu, Lautem, Manatuto, and Ainaro, pending evaluation by a joint technical team of government and UNMIT representatives.

History shows that the process may not be easy. In the past, the UN has had difficulty handing over executive policing authority in Timor-Leste. In 2005, UNPOL’s handover had left a few remaining UN officers behind, when the 2006 crisis broke out. Spurred by political opponents, factions within the PNTL and the National Defense Force (F-FDTL) battled each other. Tragically, eight PNTL officers were shot and killed (one other died later) beneath the United Nation’s flag. These events prompted the full return of the UN police and mobilization of an Australian-led International Stabilization Force. During two months of violence in 2006, 150,000 were displaced. This was a major setback for the country. Almost three years later Timor-Leste is still recovering.

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Deep in Dolly, the red-light district of Surabaya, East Java, four women were sitting patiently. Onstage next to them were two dancers in tight, low-cut spandex costumes, swinging to the beat of dangdut music, while an old crooner with bouffant hair provided the vocals.

As the women waited, light from flashing Bintang beer signs shone upon their clean, pressed clothes. Ignoring the heat of the day, more and more punters poured into this dubious café, its black walls broken only by intermittent advertisements for Guinness beer. Within a short while, over 100 people were in the café, sitting on wobbly school-style chairs or standing wherever they could find a space, waiting with anticipation and excitement.

Suddenly, it was time for the four women sitting up front to take the stage. One woman loudly addressed the standing-room-only crowd that had gathered: “Friends and candidates who I love, my name is Reni Astuti and I am the candidate for PKS, the Prosperous Justice Party.” She was joined by candidates from the Democrat Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and the Golkar Party.

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On the heels of releasing its recommendations for the new U.S. administration – America’s Role in Asia – The Asia Foundation is co-sponsoring the World Affairs Council’s 63rd Annual World Conference, “Global Priorities: Critical Choices for the Obama Administration.” On April 2-3, 2009, in San Francisco, political leaders, policymakers, scholars, and diplomats will gather to examine and debate these issues at this turning point in U.S. history. Asia Foundation President Doug Bereuter will moderate a session on emerging economies, China, India, and sovereign wealth funds. William Cole, The Asia Foundation’s senior director for Governance, Law, and Civil Society, will join a panel on state failure in Afghanistan. Co-sponsors receive a special discounted rate: sign up here for the member price. And for more information about the event, please visit the World Affairs Council website.

Rabia-e Balkhi Girl’s High School was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, over 40 years ago. Before Afghanistan’s civil war, many of its graduates were accepted into prestigious university faculties to study medicine and law. During the civil war, however, nearly 90 percent of the school’s facilities were destroyed. In late 2001, after the Taliban fell and girls were allowed to return to school, Rabia-e Balkhi suddenly had to accommodate more than 2,000 new students in make-shift tents or jerry-rigged spaces amongst the rubble of the original school grounds. These “classrooms” lacked windows, doors, chalkboards, or furniture – making school an uncomfortable environment for learning, to say the least.

Rabia-e Balkhi’s teachers and staff needed help in removing the rubble, rebuilding classrooms and infrastructure destroyed in the war, and providing a safe, vibrant learning atmosphere for these deserving – and long-deprived – female students. For the school’s long-term future, Rabia-e Balkhi’s leaders also needed to build the capacity of the school’s administration and manage their resources effectively. There is a significant gender gap in Afghanistan’s education system, now being felt in its workforce.

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In Sri Lanka, legal aid is implicitly recognized as a fundamental right of all citizens under the constitution. Both the governmental and non-governmental sectors are committed to common goals for legal aid service delivery, service providers operate independently, and beneficiaries indicate a high level of satisfaction with services provided to them, according to a study released by The Asia Foundation. However, the study also determined that rapid expansion of legal aid services has led to a lack of coordination among service providers, and it calls for a national strategy on legal aid that puts social empowerment and financial and institutional sustainability at its core.

The Legal Aid Sector in Sri Lanka: Searching for Sustainable Solutions provides a comprehensive map of Sri Lanka’s legal aid system. The report findings identify gaps in services and challenges, discuss the opportunities available for sustainable legal aid services, and propose recommendations for an improved legal aid system that is accessible to all.

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The Asia Foundation’s International Relations Director John Brandon, “Asia’s Emerging Regional Architecture and Implications for US-Southeast Asia Relations,” which will be included in the forthcoming book, Refreshing U.S.-Thai Relations. His chapter provides an appraisal of current relations and a look to the future as new administrations take office in both countries. It is now available online. Published by ISIS-Thailand, the book features contributions from the field on U.S.-Thai relations, as well as reflections from discussions at January’s conference on U.S.-Thai relations held in Cha-am. The hardcopy version of the publication is set for release on Friday.

Thinking about World Water Day this Sunday, March 22nd, and the 2009 World Water Day theme of Transboundary Water, “sharing water, sharing opportunities,” I am reminded of “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost’s 1914 poem in which he asks why two neighbors must rebuild the stone wall dividing their farms each spring. Today, the unwritten rule – that good fences make good neighbors – makes plenty of sense to most of us. Our cities and suburbs, farms and factories, power plants and parks, and roads and rivers share common geography, boundaries, and neighbors.

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Think about the difficulties of writing a constitution for a country like Nepal. There are 103 ethnic groups, 17 officially recognized languages, and 19,000 former combatants still in cantonments. In the Constituent Assembly (CA), there are 25 political parties with no one in a clear majority, 601 members who disagree on most everything, 11 constitution drafting sub-committees, three committee rooms, and an anticipated 300,000 submissions to be read. Plus, barring public holidays, there are about 330 days left to complete the job.

Due to delays in every preparatory step – from drafting procedural rules to public consultations – the drafting calendar has become so compressed that if the CA seriously focuses on logistics, it is likely to fail politically. If it seriously focuses on politics, it is likely to fail logistically.

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On Thursday, Mr. Gill spoke about India as a nuclear power, policy implications for the new U.S. administration and Asia, the nuclear policies of major states, and the de-legitimization of nuclear weapons. He said the rise of the non-state actor as a strategic player has dramatically changed the rules of the game: a nuclear weapon could come without a return address. Another new element is the salience of Asia as a nuclear power.

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